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Every Connection Counts during MS Awareness Week, March 11-17

March 11, 2013

Every Connection Counts at MSconnection.org

NEW YORK, March 11 — Multiple sclerosis is a life altering disease that affects each person in a unique and different way. MS destroys connections, divides minds from bodies, pulls people from their lives and away from one another. Millions of people are affected by MS worldwide. There is no cure. Therefore, it’s only fitting that connections would be its greatest enemy. As more connections are formed, more knowledge is shared, more questions are asked, more resources are gathered, and more hope is provided to help people living with MS move their lives forward. Every connection counts.

Connect during MS Awareness Week – March 11-17

People impacted by MS are connecting across the nation during Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week March 11 – 17 to combine their efforts, knowledge and hope in order to move us closer to a world free of multiple sclerosis.

The National MS Society is a prominent force in forging connections among people with MS, their friends and family who raise awareness and funds; health professionals who treat those with MS; and, researchers who work to stop the disease, restore the function it takes and end MS forever. In less than two decades, this has helped move MS from being an untreatable disease to one where there are at least nine treatment options for those with relapsing MS, the most common form of the disease, with even more new therapies speeding through the pipeline offering hope to people with all forms of the disease.

This MS Awareness Week and beyond, find the power of connection and visit www.MSconnection.org. Just some of the opportunities you will find are:

Every Connection Counts - share your story and connect with others at www.MSconnection.org. You can learn more about MS, upload your own photo and connection to share with others, download tools to spread MS awareness, or register to participate in Walk MS or Bike MS or another event near you. Whether you volunteer, bike, walk, advocate, educate, or support – every connection you create moves us closer to a world free of MS and shows your commitment to the MS movement.

MS Connection – an online community for making meaningful connections – when, where and how you want. Visitors and members will learn about topics that are important to them, connect with others in the MS movement, find expert MS information and opinions at their fingertips, and join or start groups and discussions of their own.

Other Opportunities to Connect – You can build connections, view and share images, video, and stories about your connections on the Society’s Facebook page. If you tweet you can spread the word using the #MSconnection hash tag.

This week, March 11, kicks off year-round MS Awareness building efforts:

Public Awareness Campaign - the Society has introduced a multi-channel Public Service Awareness Campaign: MS Kills Connection > < Connection Kills MS which features real people living with the effects of MS. Included in the campaign are Meredith Vieira and Richard Cohen as well as Noah”40” Shebib, the charismatic 28-year old producer and song writer who is a major contributing force to the rapper Drake’s meteoric rise to fame. Society PSAs will be spotlighted free on three mega-electronic billboards in Times Square during MS Awareness Week. The unique and powerful campaign was developed pro-bono in partnership with the renowned advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy. It was shot by the award-winning portrait photographer Martin Schoeller.

In Washington, D.C. - as a lead-in to MS Awareness Week, hundreds of volunteers gathered for the Society’s annual public policy conference, and to make personal visits on the Hill to advocate for issues that will help people with MS move their lives forward, such as sustained MS research funding through the NIH and the Congressional Directed Medical Research Programs, adequate funding of the FDA, and support of the Congressional MS Caucus and MS Awareness Week Resolution. New this year, MS activists provided each Congressional office with a social media suggestion card to encourage support of MS Awareness Week by public officials on Facebook and Twitter.

About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 2.1 million people worldwide.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society

The National MS Society addresses the challenges of each person affected by MS. To fulfill this mission, the Society funds cutting-edge research, drives change through advocacy, facilitates professional education, collaborates with MS organizations around the world, and provides programs and services designed to help people with MS and their families move forward with their lives. In 2012 alone, the Society invested $43 million to support 350 research projects around the world while providing programs and services that assisted more than one million people. The Society is dedicated to achieving a world free of MS. Join the movement at www.nationalMSsociety.org.

About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 2.3 million people worldwide.